Hi all,
Whilst i am reasonably new to towing and did quite a lot of research before buying our van, I am increasingly worried over the amount of people purchasing a van and then asking will my car tow it.
Know i am not trying to educate people or create an argument by posting about this, but to re-iterate to some people whom are considering buying a caravan a few points first.
1> confirm the kerbweight of your car, easy done by visiting your local weight bridge, normally a couple of £'s. Dont rely on manufactures data it is sometimes incorrect and misleading.
once you know this as a basic guideline a caravan should be approx 85% of the vehicle kerbweight.
Now some cars have higher towing capacity than the kerbweight i.e 4x4's, whilst some also have towing weights much less than the kerbweight. These details will be on your V5 reg doc.
Basic simple rule DO NOT TOW if the towed vehicle (caravan/trailer/fc etc is greater in weight than the car.
Also to be observed is the Max gross weight of the car and van/trailer as a unit must not be more than 3500Kgs, again depending on your license with B + E on it pre 1997 , post 1997(test driving test passed) will need to take a test to be able to tow this weight.
2. Loading a van is also very critical to the stability of your unit. i.e. MIRO of van = 1050 Kgs and MTPLM = 1300 Kgs resulting in a 250 kgs payload. Great i here you say can load, loads of stuff, STOP, remember these first
Motor Mover = 36 Kgs
Battery = 28Kgs
Gas Bottles = x2 10 - 15 Kgs
New vans have battery and gas bottles included in the MIRO.
These have to be subtracted form your MTPLM so 1300 - 74 = 176 kgs, which on the scale of things is not very much. LOAD carefully and observe other posts on here with basic weights for items.
3. Nose weight, the force that is imposed on the tow ball, now this can vary for each van, but ensure the towbar can carry the weight and then load the van so you have the correct nose weight. To heavy and the front wheels of the car are lifted and the rear suspension over compressed and too light the van lifts the back of the car, hence no traction of the rear wheels.
In reality we have a van with a MTPLM of 1300 Kgs and have struggled to find an adequate car (finances accepted) keeping within all the guidelines etc with which we can safely tow ie. our first car Ford Focus Estate Zetec II 2006 2.0 tdci Kebweight 1429 Kgs (measured on weight bridge) therefore 85% = 1214 Kgs, so could not travel at full weight with van although towing limit is much higher. 1300 Kgs would have been 91%, not ideal for new towers.
Second car was Volvo v70 estate 2009 again kerbweight 1610 Kgs with 85 % being 1368Kgs, so could tow at full weight which equated to 80.75%.
Currently tow with a Vx antara, and we are down to about 74% .
And i must say that i considered the Focus to two better than the Volvo.
Like i said earlier please be aware of the weights and loading and what car is going to be used to tow your van, as i don't want to come across your accident (possibly), or you be in an accident with me because of poor loading and weights.
Just take a little more care about it and if your car is not suitable then find a van which makes it suitable or change the car.
"once you know this as a basic guideline a caravan should be approx 85% of the vehicle kerbweight."
It is only a recommended figure. Not a should be figure.
Noseweight totally wrong. If its too light does it really lift the back of the car and the rear wheels off the ground? NO
Too heavy and you exceed the towbars limits and could overload the rear axle.
It would have tobe seriously overloaded to lift the front wheels.
Quote: Originally posted by TrigGLX on 18/6/2013
Hi all,
Whilst i am reasonably new to towing and did quite a lot of research before buying our van, I am increasingly worried over the amount of people purchasing a van and then asking will my car tow it.
Know i am not trying to educate people or create an argument by posting about this, but to re-iterate to some people whom are considering buying a caravan a few points first.
1> confirm the kerbweight of your car, easy done by visiting your local weight bridge, normally a couple of £'s. Dont rely on manufactures data it is sometimes incorrect and misleading.
once you know this as a basic guideline a caravan should be approx 85% of the vehicle kerbweight.
Now some cars have higher towing capacity than the kerbweight i.e 4x4's, whilst some also have towing weights much less than the kerbweight. These details will be on your V5 reg doc.
Basic simple rule DO NOT TOW if the towed vehicle (caravan/trailer/fc etc is greater in weight than the car.
Also to be observed is the Max gross weight of the car and van/trailer as a unit must not be more than 3500Kgs, again depending on your license with B + E on it pre 1997 , post 1997(test driving test passed) will need to take a test to be able to tow this weight.
2. Loading a van is also very critical to the stability of your unit. i.e. MIRO of van = 1050 Kgs and MTPLM = 1300 Kgs resulting in a 250 kgs payload. Great i here you say can load, loads of stuff, STOP, remember these first
Motor Mover = 36 Kgs
Battery = 28Kgs
Gas Bottles = x2 10 - 15 Kgs
New vans have battery and gas bottles included in the MIRO.
These have to be subtracted form your MTPLM so 1300 - 74 = 176 kgs, which on the scale of things is not very much. LOAD carefully and observe other posts on here with basic weights for items.
3. Nose weight, the force that is imposed on the tow ball, now this can vary for each van, but ensure the towbar can carry the weight and then load the van so you have the correct nose weight. To heavy and the front wheels of the car are lifted and the rear suspension over compressed and too light the van lifts the back of the car, hence no traction of the rear wheels.
In reality we have a van with a MTPLM of 1300 Kgs and have struggled to find an adequate car (finances accepted) keeping within all the guidelines etc with which we can safely tow ie. our first car Ford Focus Estate Zetec II 2006 2.0 tdci Kebweight 1429 Kgs (measured on weight bridge) therefore 85% = 1214 Kgs, so could not travel at full weight with van although towing limit is much higher. 1300 Kgs would have been 91%, not ideal for new towers.
Second car was Volvo v70 estate 2009 again kerbweight 1610 Kgs with 85 % being 1368Kgs, so could tow at full weight which equated to 80.75%.
Currently tow with a Vx antara, and we are down to about 74% .
And i must say that i considered the Focus to two better than the Volvo.
Like i said earlier please be aware of the weights and loading and what car is going to be used to tow your van, as i don't want to come across your accident (possibly), or you be in an accident with me because of poor loading and weights.
Just take a little more care about it and if your car is not suitable then find a van which makes it suitable or change the car.
We had too .
enjoy the summer season and load responsibly.
Chris W
Also post 1997 licence holders (no B+E ) cannot tow anything with a mass weight of over 750 kgs, unless the mass weight of the towed vehicle is less than the unlaiden weight of the towing vehicle and does not exceed 3500kgs.
So any trailer over 750kgs ( anything with brakes ) you need B+E.
i found the c.c car + caravan matching site ok it gave all info needed when you put your car and your carvan makes +years in try it before you buy any van
Quote: So any trailer over 750kgs ( anything with brakes ) you need B+E.
No, that is not correct. Refer to the information in Grampian91's signature above for the correct rules.
Towing over 750kg on a B licence is fine as long as the car's gross weight plus the caravan's MTPLM do not exceed 3500kg, and the caravan is not heavier than the car's unladen weight (and its max towing limit).
For example, my car has a gross weight of 2010kg. Therefore (ignoring other factors), I can legally tow 1490kg on my B licence (that's 3500kg-2010kg). However, this exceeds my car's unladen weight of 1410kg (from memory), so I am then legally limited to towing 1410kg. However (!) my car's max towing limit is 1400kg, so in fact I am limited to 1400kg by the car manufacturer.
Use the Mass in Service which can be found in the car V5C document.
Noseweight recommended 5% - 7% of the caravan MTPLM, then when on the towball it becomes part of the cars payload, another factor when loading the car and axle limits.
Easy 82.3%
To make it even easier, download the Excel spreadsheet on to your hard drive and just put in the kerbweight / mass in service of the car and the caravans MTPLM.
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Topic: Towing Weights and Measures
